


Last Resort

by Pfain Ryder (Cat_Moon)



Category: Quantum Leap
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-16
Updated: 2019-07-16
Packaged: 2020-06-29 13:18:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19831039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cat_Moon/pseuds/Pfain%20Ryder
Summary: The sky was full of glittering diamonds, winking at them in conspiratorial splendor. The breeze through the trees whispered its secrets in the sweet night air."It's beautiful, Al," Sam murmured.Seeing the stars reflected in Sam's eyes, Al had to agree. He looked up again in time to catch the meteor as it streaked across the sky. He wondered how many other people had seen the very same falling star, how many dreams would be granted. "What did you wish for?" he asked Sam...





	Last Resort

**Author's Note:**

> Published in Quantum Instability #3: Falling Stars. The zine where we took one brief intro, then ask writers to write a story based around those few lines. The results were varied and creative.

_The sky was full of glittering diamonds, winking at them in conspiratorial splendor. The breeze through the trees whispered its secrets in the sweet night air._

_"It's beautiful, Al," Sam murmured._

_Seeing the stars reflected in Sam's eyes, Al had to agree. He looked up again in time to catch the meteor as it streaked across the sky. He wondered how many other people had seen the very same falling star, how many dreams would be granted. "What did you wish for?" he asked Sam..._

Whatever Sam might have said became academic as Al turned his gaze from the sky. The sight which greeted him was the stuff dreams were made of...certainly not reality. He stared hard, then blinked and rubbed his eyes. None of it did any good. When he looked around, instead of seeing the desert of New Mexico, his eyes insisted on telling him that it was the beach of a tropical island they stood upon.

"What the hell?! Sam...something really weird is happening to me," Al began in a carefully calm voice. "Some kind of hallucination..." But as he spared a glance for his friend, the confusion in Sam's eyes told the story. He didn't know whether he was relieved or more worried. "Sam, tell me this is a mirage."

Sam whipped his head around, taking in the 360 degree view. Ever the scientist, he looked back up at the stars. "Somewhere in the Caribbean," he murmured as if to himself.

"Sam--what the hell's going on?!" Al almost yelled.

Sam didn't answer right away. He looked as if he was having just as hard a time digesting the situation. Then a look of amazement came over him. "The wish I made on the falling star was to be on a deserted island..."

"It's impossible," Al insisted. "Things like this can't happen. They can't. This is some kind of dream. Or hallucination. Did you have the grilled chicken in the cafeteria this afternoon?"

"The food's bad, but it's not _that_ bad," Sam answered with a trace of amusement. He experimentally bent down and scooped up some sand in his fist.

"There's sand in the desert, too," Al told him. He was starting to feel slightly sick to his stomach. "It was definitely something I ate."

"Then why am I here too?" Sam asked, going down to the water's edge and trailing his fingers into the surf.

"You're a scientist. You can't tell me you really believe this?"

Sam splashed him. "I believe in facts. No matter how bizarre they are. Salt water."

"Get a grip, Calavicci," Al muttered. "It's just a dream, and you'll wake up soon. Real soon."

XXX

A half hour later, Al showed no signs of waking up. They sat side by side in the sand, silent, each lost in his own thoughts. It was hard not to believe in what his senses were telling him. The warm breeze that blew across his skin, the gentle lapping of the waves against the shore. He'd never had a dream, hallucination, mirage, or DT anywhere near as vivid.

"I think we'd better decide what we're gonna do, in case this is real," Sam said finally.

"I'm still working on believing, pal."

"We're creating a project to travel in time," Sam mused, "how much crazier is this really?"

"That's science, Sam. This is...fantasy."

"They thought fire was the work of evil spirits before they understood it," Sam answered. "Just because we don't know the causes yet, doesn't necessarily mean it's supernatural."

"Who said anything about supernatural?" Al asked nervously, peering into the darkness around them.

"Use your head, Al," Sam began reasonably. "We _are_ here, therefore, there _has_ to be an explanation."

"Yeah, logical. Why the hell did you wish this, anyway?!"

Sam looked away. "I guess because I was tired. We've been working so hard, and it was starting to get to me. I wanted to escape for awhile."

"That's it!" Al pounced. "Stress-induced breakdown. I couldn't pry you away from the project with a crow-bar, much less have you wish for this."

"Some place where I'd have no choice but to relax, wouldn't be able to change my mind," Sam continued.

"You're right about one thing," Al said, squirming. The hard sand was starting to take a toll on his derriere. "We'd better decide what we're going to do until we figure this thing out."

"Make the best of it?"

XXX

"Maybe we leaped somehow," Al suggested.

It was early morning, after a semi-comfortable but restless night on the beach. They'd misjudged and woke up with wet feet...but at least it hadn't rained.

Sam was industriously scouting their immediate area, looking for anything that might be useful in their predicament. He stopped what he was doing to frown at his partner. "The Accelerator isn't even finished yet," he reminded.

"Yeah, but--" Sam's look stopped him. Frustrated, Al began pacing. He really needed an explanation. Badly. While the scientist was reasonably satisfied just to make the best of things. "Okay. Let's say, for the sake of argument, that we're really on a deserted island. How the hell do we get off?"

"I don't know," Sam answered distantly, scanning the horizon. "I have a feeling we're off the beaten track here."

"Naturally," Al said sarcastically. "Don't get me wrong, I love deserted islands...if they also include a beautiful native girl or two." He gazed into the jungle hopefully. Sam frowned again. "Geez, even your wishes are boring," Al complained. "Besides, I've got a date with Tina tonight."

"You're missing the obvious," Sam told him.

"What?"

"Well, assuming we got here because I wished for it on a falling star...all I have to do is wait for tonight, then wish on another star to go home."

"Why didn't you say so before?" Al demanded.

"I just thought of it," Sam admitted sheepishly.

XXX

The day went faster than Al had imagined it would. They made the best of their time, sunbathing and swimming. Gathering fruits and berries for their meals took up a good chunk of time, too.

Finally, the sky darkened. They both lay on their backs, scouting the sky carefully for another falling star.

They both saw it at the same time. Sam made his wish as fervently as he could. _I want us to be back home in New Mexico..._ He closed his eyes, then opened them again.

They were still on the beach.

"What happened?" Al asked in consternation.

"I don't know. I wished to be back in New Mexico."

"Well this doesn't look a thing like White Sands. What are we gonna do now?"

"Try again tomorrow night, I guess. Till then, make the best of it."

Al was getting tired of hearing that expression.

XXX

A loud explosion woke Al out of a sound sleep. He jumped and his eyes flew open. After a moment of wild disorientation, he remembered where he was...and realized he was soaking wet. Beside him, Sam was also rousing. The noise that had so abruptly awoken was thunder. The rain was pouring down in buckets.

"What are we gonna do?" Al yelled over nature's fury.

They scrambled to their feet. Sam grabbed Al's hand and began stumbling his way further into the jungle. "It'll be drier in here with the trees as cover," he yelled over the sound of nature's fury.

They managed to find a tree and collapse beneath it. It was considerable drier, as Sam had promised. Also quieter than the beach.

"Isn't under a tree supposed to be the worst place to be in a thunderstorm?" Al asked.

"Next to the beach, yeah," Sam replied drolly

Al shrugged philosophically.

They sat side by side, backs against the huge trunk of the tree. "This is a beautiful tree," Sam said after awhile. "I was looking at it today. Must be hundreds of years old. I'm sorry I got you into this," he added abruptly.

"Hey--" Al nudged Sam's shoulder with his own. "Isn't your fault. It's not like you really wanted or expected to end up here."

Sam didn't answer.

"We'll get through it. And I'm glad I'm here. I wouldn't want you to be alone."

"Me either," Sam said so low Al barely made it out.

"Let's try to get some sleep," he suggested, and slid down to a prone position.

Lying under the tree, huddled close to try and keep warm, they finally slept.

DAY TWO:

When Al woke, he felt clammy and miserable. Every bone in his body ached. And Sam was gone. He struggled to his feet, stumbling back onto the beach, looking for his friend. He sat down on the sand, sighing as the warm sun began seeping into his damp bones.

Sam walked out of the forest, his hands full of breakfast.

"No coconuts?" Al asked with a slight grin, surveying the assorted berries Sam held.

"I thought the least I could do was have 'breakfast' waiting when you woke up," Sam told him quietly.

"Hey..." Al said sternly. "Cut that out. This isn't your fault."

Not looking convinced but falling silent on the subject, Sam sat down next to him. "Today we'll build a shelter. Just in case..." he added to Al's expression.

"Just in case."

XXX

That night they _both_ wished on a falling star.

"Hey...I know what happened," Al said excitedly when they were on the beach waiting for another shooting star. "I know your wish, that's why it didn't come true."

"I thought of that," Sam dashed Al's hopes. "Last night I changed the wish a little. I wished for us to be on the farm in Indiana." Al gave him a look. "It's a hell of a lot easier to get home from Indiana than here," he pointed out reasonably.

"Maybe you used up your allotment," Al suggested. Grasping at straws. _And we're supposed to be scientists_ , he thought to himself in wry amusement. He glanced up again just in time to spy a meteor streak across the sky, and hurriedly wished on it. "Damn," he said softly when he realized it hadn't worked.

"Did you wish for something different?"

"Sammy-boy, I made a wish I knew you'd never in a million years guess." He grinned. "I wished that we were both in bed with Tina."

He could see Sam's blush, even in the darkness. Al sighed regretfully.

DAY THREE:

They both agreed to make the best of it. Unfortunately, it decided to get the best of them.

Al woke up feeling decidedly ill. By early afternoon, he was burning up with fever. Sam blamed it on getting caught in the rain, privately hoping he hadn't had an adverse reaction to any of their meals.

Sam made Al as comfortable as he could in their hut, which was really more of a lean-to. He spent the next two days nursing Al and feeling alone with himself. It wasn't pleasant.

On the second day, Al stirred, his eyes opening.

"How do you feel?" Sam asked softly.

"Like death warmed over."

"Don't talk like that!" Sam whispered fiercely, a single tear trickling down his cheek.

Al reached up a weak hand to catch it. "Hey..." he admonished. "I've survived worse than this, I'll be okay. Besides, do you think I'd leave you alone?"

Sam turned away, busying himself with filling a coconut shell with water for his patient. "I wish I could get you out of this," he mumbled.

"Not your fault," Al repeated, wishing he wasn't too sick to help coax Sam out of his incipient guilt trip. "Could happen to anybody."

DAY SIX:

"It's not so bad," Al stated sincerely. He was stretched out in the hut. The fever had broken several hours before, and he was feeling much better.

Sam stared at him. "Are you still delirious?" He felt of Al's forehead.

Al gently pushed the hand away. "No, I mean it. Before, we were, like, fighting nature. I bet it would go a lot easier if we just relaxed and looked on it as a vacation."

"What if no boats or planes come by and we're stranded here forever?" Sam asked, looking towards the beach where his S.O.S. was spelled out with large rocks. He'd seen that on I DREAM OF JEANNIE.

"At least we're together," Al told him.

Sam smiled.

XXX

That night they got drunk.

Al had been doing an experiment with a certain type of purple berry, and it worked. They sat in the hut and passed the coconut shell back and forth.

"Not bad," Sam proclaimed.

"If I don't say so myself," Al agreed. "I bet I could come up with all sorts of interesting things given time. I'm a very resourceful guy," he grinned at Sam.

"That you are," Sam agreed with a smile.

"You'd be surprised," he added.

"Nothing you could do would surprise me," Sam told him with the smug air of a long-time best friend.

"I wouldn't bet on it," Al warned.

"Whatever you say, Al," he said with a tolerant smile.

And Al kissed him.

It was a soft brushing of lips, over almost as quickly as it had begun, leaving Sam to wonder if he'd imagined it. But he still felt the warmth where Al's hand cradled the back of his head. He stared into the soft expression on his friend's face.

"Told you I could surprise you."

"You're drunk," Sam said, a statement and a question at the same time.

"No, I'm not," Al told him. "Y'know, we might be stuck here for a very long time. Maybe for the rest of our lives. Together."

Sam had a feeling he knew where this was leading. He pushed Al's hand away. "And you're making the best of it, huh?!" he snapped. "God forbid Al Calavicci should go without sex." He turned away, shaking with fury and several other emotions he didn't want to give name to.

Al's eyes narrowed as he studied Sam. "Do you really think that poorly of me?" he asked.

Sam got up and strode away. "Don't give up yet Al, maybe you'll find some native girls on this island somewhere. Then you won't have to settle for _me_."

Al caught up to him, grabbing his arm. "Awful sensitive about this, aren't ya? _You're_ the one who wished for the two of us to be on a deserted island together," he said in sudden realization. He let go of Sam's arm abruptly.

Sam used the freedom to try and stalk away, so Al had to grab him again. "Why is that, Sam?" he asked.

"Leave me alone!" Sam yelled with a touch of panic in his voice. "Let go of me!" He tried to pull away.

Al knew if he let Sam go, they'd never get things out in the open. Worse, in his current state, Sam might run off into the jungle and get lost. He reviewed his options, realizing there were only two. Punch him, or...

He pulled Sam close. "I don't think you want me to let go of you," he whispered into Sam's ear, his mouth closing over the lobe.

"Please..." Sam moaned. Disappointingly, Al knew it wasn't with desire.

He tilted Sam's chin up, forcing him to look at him. "I don't consider you a last resort."

Sam's eyes stayed steady on his, pride and defiance combined. "What about Tina? And Fi Fi, and Barbie, and Bambi?"

Al sighed, giving in to the irresistible urge and pressing his body against the warm, solid form in front of him. "They aren't _real_ ," he said. "You are. God, you're the most real thing that's ever happened to me."

"When did you come to this amazing conclusion," Sam persisted warily.

"Two years ago," Al answered, satisfied when Sam's mouth gaped in shock. "Two years, three months, and four days ago. I can be more specific, if you want. It--"

Sam's mouth and body put an enthusiastic end to the rest of the confession.

XXX

Al decided he could definite get used to this.

The warm tropic breeze felt good on his naked, overheated skin. They lay in a loose tangle of limbs on their soft bed of straw. The night was in its final minutes, already the sound of early birds filled the air.

"Why didn't you tell me?!" Sam admonished.

"Why didn't _you_ tell _me_?" Al countered, biting his shoulder. He chuckled. "I supposed it would be a little hard for you to ever guess that the person I'd most want to be stuck on a deserted island with, was you."

"That's it!" Sam cried, jumping up and pulling Al to his feet.

"What's it? What're you doing?"

"Come on!" Sam urged, pulling him outside and down to the beach. "I know what went wrong!"

Once down on the beach, Sam craned his neck up and kept watch on the sky. He didn't let go of Al's hand.

Al was starting to get dizzy from looking, up when a falling star sped across the tableau in front of them. He looked at Sam. "What's all this about--" his voice cut off as his eyes took in their surroundings.

They were once again in the familiar New Mexico desert.

"We're home! What happened?" Al demanded in stunned delight.

Sam looked very sheepish. "Uh, well... The reason wishing us home didn't work before is that...the rest of my wish hadn't come true yet..."

"You mean..." Al began, realization dawning.

"Just being on the deserted island with you wasn't the only thing I wished for," Sam finished, smiling shyly at him.

"Thank God," Al murmured, pulling Sam close for a brief kiss. "Let's go inside," he suggested huskily.

"I...think we'd better sneak in," Sam said hesitantly.

"Why?" Al asked, confused. His gaze followed Sam's and his eyes widened.

They were both naked.

the end

1994


End file.
